Snow? What?

I love the way snow looks on tree branches. As my dad and I were driving along the snow covered streets today I found myself looking up at the trees that are heavy with snow right now. Victoria is being pounded by a pretty unusual bit of winter weather. As a true island girl, I’m used to wet winters, not cold winters, that’s about to change of course. I spend most of the weekend cooking and packing. I booked by plane ticket on Friday, which makes things all seem a little more real. As the Queen of Procrastination, I , of course, left the packing to the last three days. Not my wisest move perhaps, but when its cold and windy outside, there isn’t much else to do.

I was pretty determined to get some packing done on the weekend, but I found ways to distract myself. And one of them was making enchiladas for dinner. If you can’t go to Mexico, and the snow is falling outside, why not make it feel a little bit like Mexico inside? Also, enchiladas fit easily into my G.I. Diet. On a side note, I’m starting week three of the G.I. Diet tomorrow, and it’s getting easier and easier, I actually turned down wine last night at dinner, and bought jeans that are a size smaller than my old ones.

I know what you’re thinking, sour cream is definitely not on the G.I. Diet, and you’d be right, but that’s not sour cream, it’s yoghurt cheese! More about this wonderful thing later!

It’s confession time, I am bad at following recipes. There, I said it. I feel better already. I tend to look at recipes for inspiration and use them as a blue print. So, on Saturday morning, after going to the pharmacy and laughing to Wiretap, I started going through my standard rotation of food blogs, Pioneer woman cooks,  Homesick Texan, the Kitchn at Apartment Therapy and so on. I also pulled out my Rebar cookbook (if you don’t have this already and you are interested in vegetarian cooking, you should buy it). Based on everyone’s enchilada recipes I started creating my vision. They were going to have chicken, dad bought chicken breasts, so that will have to do; I need a good sauce, I picked the Masa Red Sauce from the Rebar cookbook, and then I added my own touches, zucchini and peppers in the filling, along with a can of diced green chilies. And on top (and a bit on the inside each enchilada) some low-fat cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheese.

The sauce is spicy! Like 4 table spoons of Ancho chile powder spicy. But combined with everything, they were delicious. And they warm you up from the inside and if you close your eyes you can almost year the waves of the pacific washing up on the warm beach. Don’t open your eyes though, because then you’ll see the snow, that’s still falling.

And being the scatterbrain that I am right now, almost all my stuff is in a box, I realized I packed my rebar cookbook, so please remind me to send you the recipe for the sauce as soon as I unpack in Fernie.

Something sweet

Chocolate cake. I would kill a man for a piece of chocolate cake. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have a sweet tooth, but when I have a sugar craving, I gotta have somethin’ sweet! For two days, I wanted a big calorie-rich, fat-laden, gooey and delicious piece of chocolate cake. But I couldn’t have it. I’m sticking to this diet, even if I go mad from the sugar craving.

On Wednesday, I decided I was going to make cookies. My favourite cookie recipe comes from the Breakfast, Lunch and Tea cookbook that I gush over constantly. But, like most good cookie recipes it comes with a cup of butter, and a cup of sugar and LOTS of white flour (all things I can’t have on my diet.) Instead of looking for a bad diet recipe I took my favourite recipe and started substituting the stuff I couldn’t have for G.I. friendly alternatives.

Look at those perfect little sugary cookies. You can almost taste the butter. Whoops, I think I got drool on my keyboard. So the butter obviously had to go, even though I love it so, it’s a no no on the G.I. Diet. This is what the recipe looked like after I took out, well, all the good stuff.

I’m a big believer that confidence is the most important ingredient in the kitchen. If you don’t believe you’re going to make something delicious, than you’re more likely to be disappointed with the product. That being said, I was nervous about this. I didn’t know how they were going to turn out, if they were going to be chewy, or soft, whether they’d be sweet or bland, or taste like apples.

To my surprise, and to the surprise of my non-experimental dad, they were delicious. As he said, “They look like cookies, they smell like cookies, they ARE cookies.”

And as promised, here is the Ricotta Cheesecake recipe from Breakfast Tea Lunch.

**A note about the original Breakfast, Tea, Lunch recipe: To get the round shape, they roll and chill the dough, mine I just spooned on to parchment lined cookie sheet. I think the dough was a little too wet to do the roll and chill method.

New habits and shaking the old ones

Sorry about last night. We sure got a beating by the wind last night. The power went out around 8 o’clock last night and came back on at 5 o’clock this morning (and so did everything we had on when the power went out.) As I promised here are the pictures and tales of food from the weekend.

One of the things I love most about the west coast is when the fog rolls in and settles among the cedars and firs. There is something so elegantly haunting about how it looks. And it always kind of lets me know that fall is here and winter will soon be creeping in. That’s what it was like for most of the weekend, foggy, cloudy, and wet; pretty typical for a west coast fall. But none of that kept me from getting into the kitchen for the first time in weeks.

My leg is finally feeling better. It’s been a week since I started the G.I. Diet and I think I’m finally getting used to it. Yesterday I could have inhaled a piece of chocolate cake but I got through it. I try to eat an apple every time I want sweets, not the same in any way but it fills my tummy. I’ve been contemplating trying a G.I. Diet recipe for chocolate chip cookies that uses beans, I think that may be on the agenda tomorrow along with making granola for my mom and packing and sorting my stuff (not something I’m looking forward to.) But back to the weekend.

As I mentioned last week, I was craving a stuffed pepper. I couldn’t convince my family to have them for dinner, so I made one for myself for lunch. I used the Rebar cookbook‘s cracked wheat pilaf as the base and mixed in spinach, ham, and a bit of cheese on time. It was very tasty, easy and filling.

On Sunday, we had family friend over for dinner. My sister was visiting from Abbotsford and with her she brought her food elimination diet, which means she isn’t eating eggs, dairy, or anything with gluten. Combine that with my G.I. Diet and we had some pretty big restrictions on our menu. In the end, my dad made roast pork and roast potatoes with rosemary; I made roasted acorn squash with curry, brown sugar and olive oil, and a Ricotta cheese cake (more about this later); and my mom make roasted brussel sprouts with maples syrup and hazelnuts. In the end, the menu didn’t meet everyone’s dietary restrictions but we did our best. In my opinion, the show stopper of the evening was the Ricotta cheesecake.

I discovered this recipe last year after I bought the cookbook Breakfast Lunch Tea by Rose bakery, and since I bought it I have fallen in love with it. Every recipe I make from it turns out perfectly and they are always delicious show stoppers. What I love about this cheesecake is the Ricotta! I love Ricotta cheese, I would use it in everything if I could (the cookbook also has an amazing recipe for Ricotta pancakes which has become part of my regular breakfast rotation.) Ricotta is great because it is lower in fat and all around better for you. I mix the filling in a food processor which makes it silky and smooth. But the Ricotta makes the cake a little bit grainier than normal cheese cake. I have to say, the cake on Sunday make me proud and people actually held it up and said “This is beautiful, isn’t it?” I blushed as people moaned and licked their spoons. I enjoyed a small piece, I didn’t want to torture myself. But I made sure my mom took the rest to work for her co-workers to enjoy. I didn’t want to live with the temptation all day, I know I would have given in. I’ll share the recipes with you tomorrow. I put the cookbooks in the mess that is my basement suite right now, and I can’t seem to remember where I put them. I have to go eat an apple now before I decide to go find some cheesecake.

xo

-M

A different craving

As I’m getting ready to move, I’m starting to make decisions about what to pack. I spent the last four years being a city girl, a city girl who loves shoes, and particularly high heel shoes, and even more specifically, expensive John Fluevog shoes. But do you bring John Fluevog to the mountains. I bought my first pair of gorgeous Fluevogs two years ago. I’d been eye-ing them for months. The lovely people at the store had been kind and patient enough to put up with me coming in all the time to try them on and cry a little every time I put them back in the box. They were over 400 dollars. I’d never spent that much on a pair of shoes. It felt wrong. I had this whole theory that I couldn’t spend as much on shoes as I did on rent so I left them in the store. But one glorious day, I had gone in with two friends. When ever I’m in Gastown I go to the Fluevog store. For me it’s like going to church, I have to pay my respects, and pay thanks for the gorgeous shoes. I did my normal walk through. Pawing the beauties one at a time. Running my fingers along the soft smooth leather, over the gold, or silver buckles. And then I arrived where my favourites normally were, they weren’t there. I sprung up. And looked over at the sale rack. There they were, and in my size! And almost half the price. I smiled at the guy behind the counter and he brought me my favourites. I strutted around the store for about 15 minutes before I took the plunge.

Aren’t they beautiful? I love everything about them. The caramel colour that looks good enough to eat, and the heel. Oh the heel! I think it’s my favourite part.

Now I’m going to have to buy my Fluevogs online. And let me tell you, I’ve already picked out some gorgeous boots to buy when I start my new job. I’ll share those with you when they become part of my collection. Sorry for my brief detour from food and baking, but I had to show you my shoes!

Technical difficulties

I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple days. The router that I use for my wireless is down. I’m hoping I’ll be able to up load some pictures from the weekend this evening. I did a lot of cooking and baking this weekend which means, I’m getting better. I’ll share all of that with you tonight. In the mean time, I wanted to share something I’m looking forward to in my new town.

I’ve been doing some research about where to eat and where to shop in my new mountain town. And I got a heads up from someone on twitter that Loaf bakery is somewhere I should familiarize myself with. Maybe you remember a while ago, I wrote about True Grains Bakery. It’s up in the Cowichan Bay. They make the most beautiful pastries and breads. You walk in, and the warm wood and the comforting smell of fresh bread swallows you whole. It’s like heaven for a bread lover, like me. Unfortunately, because of my new diet I’m being careful of the pastries and breads I put in my mouth. But I’ve decided once in a while I’ll treat myself, mostly because I’m afraid if I don’t I will go on a bread bender and turn in the Michelin Man.

**Update: It’s around 8:04 PM here on Vancouver Island and we are getting beaten by the wind. I have a window of power (the wind keeps knocking the power lines out), so I thought I would let you know the big post, including a recipe for bulgar wheat stuffed peppers, a picture of my gorgeous ricotta cheese cake and more, will have to wait until tomorrow. A demain!

Can you take the city out of the girl?

When I was a teenager I was determined to move to the ‘big city.’ For us island kids, Vancouver is the ‘big city.’ It’s this scary, cement abyss that we don’t understand but there unknown is so tempting and exciting. My family visited Vancouver a lot when we were kids because my grandparents live on the mainland. We would go over and go to the Aquarium, Granville Island and Science World. It was fun, but I never felt drawn to the ‘big city.’

As a teenager, my friends and I started making trips over for concerts. I’d been to many, and always with my loyal concert buddy. We’d come over to go to the Warped Tour, to see Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, I saw Lenny Kravitz, Damien Rice, Jason Mraz and so on. Every time I came over I got a glimpse of what could be in the ‘big city.’ And so the love affair began. I am not going to drone on and on about how much I love Vancouver because, let’s face it, you’ve heard it enough.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve liked lists. I have books of them. Foods to try, restaurants to eat at, restaurants I love, gadgets I want, bands I want to see, music I need to download, my all time favourite songs, my favourite places etc. As I prepare to move, and leave the west coast behind, and those of you who aren’t from the west coast may tell me, “Well M, you’re still in B.C. so you’re still in the west coast,” and my response to that is, if I can’t see the ocean I’m on near the coast, sorry! Anyways, as I was saying, as I’m getting ready to head to the mountains I’m starting to think about what I’ll be leaving behind. Of course, I’m leaving my family, my friends and everything familiar and comfortable, and this is hard (naturally). But what I’m also thinking about, is all the things I’ll miss about the ‘big city.’ So here is a list, of the things I’m going to miss about Vancouver (in addition to all the amazing and wonderful people there).

1. Public Transit: Bitch all you want about Vancouver’s transit system, but I didn’t have to buy a car to live there. And I could go out with friends, drink a few (or many) pints and stumble (with class) on to a bus and get home safely. There won’t be any transit where I’m going, and I’m looking at buying a truck (UGH!)

2. The Ocean and the beach: For as long as I’ve been alive, I’ve lived within a short drive (or walk) of the ocean. And I don’t think I’ve ever taken it for granted. One of my fondest memories of the last few months was drinking beers on the beach with my friend on the last day of Summer. It was a beach, that I have a lot of fond memories at. I’ll miss that. And the view of English Bay from the Burrard or Granville Street Bridge, with the container ships floating in the water.

3. Gastown: I love Gastown. I have memories of running through Blood Alley at 10 pm in my favourite pair of John Fluevog heels. I love how even in the height of tourist season it still seems less crowded than the rest of the city. I love that the old buildings are full of new and exciting clothes and food.

4. Chinatown: I can’t explain why I love Chinatown. And the sad thing is that my love for Chinatown is something that appeared very late in my Vancouver-life. I love how alive the neighbourhood seems despite it’s proximity to Main and Hastings. I love that there is a I love Sausage shop opening in Chinatown (but hate that I’ll be in the mountains and unable to enjoy it.)

5. Pho: I’m hoping there is Pho in the mountains because it would be the perfect way to warm up after a day on the slops. In the last ten months I was living in Vancouver, I was living in the heart of some pretty amazing Pho (and Banh Mi). I love Pho! It was something I only discovered two years ago, and when I found it, I pretty much went on a Pho bender. I ate it every day for lunch. It helped that it was cheap, filling, and let’s face it on a cold winter day in Vancouver, is there anything that warms you up better than a big bowl of steaming Pho? I would say there isn’t.

6. The North Shore Mountains: I don’t know how long I’ll miss the North Shore Mountains because from the pictures I’ve seen from where I’m moving to, I think the Rockies have the North Shore Mountains beat. But I’ll miss how the hover over the Vancouver skyline. And I’ll miss how they look dusted with snow in the winter. And I’ll never forget the day last year, when I was still in J-school, that I got to do a fake weather cast from the top of Grouse Mountain, on a clear, crisp December day. I think I stood there awe-struck for at least ten minutes.

7. My hair dresser (Spencer) and Coup Hair Salon: This is where I’m going to plug all my Vancouver favourites, I’m not being paid in anyway, I’m just doing it out of love. Coup Hair Salon is in Shanghai Alley in Chinatown, and Spencer is the lovely guy with spectacular long blond hair, who has made my hair beautiful and luscious for the past two years (I think.) I love going in there because it is a group of talented, and friendly people giving some pretty awesome hair-dos. And what can I say, I love supporting small businesses. I may have some pretty long hair when I re-emerge from the mountains.

8. John Fluevog‘s Gastown location: I can still remember the first time I went into the Fluevog store in Gastown. I think I heard angels singing, and got weak at the knees. I think I left greasy finger prints on every pump, boot, flat, and platform in the store, and maybe a little drool too. I’ll probably keep buying Fluevogs even when I’m in the mountains, and I’m very aware they aren’t practical but you can take the girl out of the city but you can’t take the city out of the girl.

9. The Irish Heather (and all the other Heather establishments): I went to the Irish Heather when it was on the other side of Carrall Street, and in it’s current location. I’ve gotten ridiculously drunk there on my birthday. I’ve enjoyed many, many Long Table dinners. I’ve gone for after-school drinks with two of my favourite Vancouverites. I’ve interviewed Sean Heather, I’ve photographed former Chef Lee Humphries. I love the Irish Heather and all of it’s affiliated restaurants, and I will miss all of them desperately.

10. Deep fried Chicken Wings at Phnom Penh: I don’t need to say anymore than that.

Honorable mentions: Late night beer and pizza at Campagnolo, dancing on Fridays at Lucky Bar, delicious local beers at the Alibi Room, brunch at Cafe Medina, brunch at the Wolf and Hound, breakfast beers all over the city, The Whip, The Narrow, Granville Island Public market, Ken at The Lions Den Japarribean Restaurant…and so many others.

**Please note this list is not in any kind of order.

Sweet or savoury or something completely different…

I’ve never had a sweet tooth. Occasionally, I crave chocolate, but if I were faced with the choice between a chocolate bar and a bag of chips, I would nine times out of ten pick the bag of chips. I’m also a huge sucker for sweet and salty combinations, a bit of fleur de sel on a rich dark chocolate brownie, or some salted caramel, I love, love, LOVE it! As a kid, my friend and I thought the best combination of sweet and salty was peanut butter and dill pickle sandwiches. Gross, right? It’s funny what we as kids think is tasty.

I was sifting through my usual collection of blogs and food sites and came across umami. Have you heard of umami before? I thought I had but I was wrong. I googled umami, and this is what I discovered:

Umami was first identified in Japan, in 1908, when Dr. Kikunae Ikeda concluded that kombu, a type of edible seaweed, had a different taste than most foods. Decades later, umami became scientifically defined as one of the five individual tastes sensed by receptors on the tongue. (From the CBC’s Who’s Umami? Human taste comes in five flavours by Sabrina Saccoccio).

From wikipedia: In as much as it describes the flavor common to savory products such as meat, cheese, and mushrooms, umami is similar to Brillat-Savarin‘s concept of osmazome, an early Western attempt to describe the main flavoring component of meat as extracted in the process of making stock.

Well, food writer Laura Santtini has found away to bring a flavour that has typically only been found in high end restaurants to home cooks. Her Umami paste mirrors the classic No.5 perfume by Chanel in it’s name Taste No.5. In an article from the Daily Mail, Santtini says: “I wanted to get away from the notion that umami is something of interest to scientists that no one else can really understand.The truth is that umami should be of interest to anyone who has a tongue. Every food culture has its umami-rich ingredients, whether it is seaweed in Japan or Parmesan in Italy.”

I can’t wait to get my hands on a tube. You can order it online here. And for more about products from Easy, Tasty, Magic go here. And for a review and comparison to MSG go to Eat me daily.

In other news, I’m considering changing my blog a bit when I move. I’ve focused a lot on eating in Vancouver and Victoria. But with a move on the horizon, and new adventure ahead, I am thinking of focusing more on that and settling in my new town and being a foodie in a small town. I’ll keep you in the loop about all these changes, and more.

Cravings

Well, it’s cloudy and rainy here on Vancouver Island. Pretty much typical fall weather. I wish I could say I hate the grey, cold days of fall but there is something cozy and wonderful about them. I love sitting inside wrapped up in a blanket with a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other, and today I’m enjoying Florence and the Machine’s new album Lung. I’m in the midst of what might be described as a “vacation” but really it’s the lull between when I left my job and Vancouver, and arriving in my new home in the Rockies for my new job. But I’m enjoying every lazy moment of it.

For the past few weeks my appetite in general seemed to have disappeared. I wasn’t cooking and I wasn’t really eating. I couldn’t really cook (and honestly it’s still a challenge) because after about a minute a burning pain would shoot down my thigh and I would have to sit. I basically cooked things that could be thrown in a pot and would cook effortlessly while I sat. Not really the style of cooking I enjoy but you do what you have to.

When I arrived home at my parents I had a new edition of Bon Appetit waiting for me. I eagerly flipped through it, and instantly felt inspired. I’m also inspired by my new diet. Shocking but true. I’m trying to stick to the G.I. Diet (more or less) there is some stuff that I am skeptical of, as I mentioned in my last post. But I am feeling more and more in the mood to cook, and today, I want to cook stuffed peppers. Have you made stuffed peppers before? I thought there’d be more recipes out there but it seems there isn’t. But I mean how hard can it be, mix rice, or lentils, or bulgar wheat, or couscous or something like this with veggies, spices and cheese or whatever else and stuff it inside a bell pepper, bake it and serve as a side dish or a main. Seems pretty easy to me…we’ll see though.

I need to go hit the repeat button on my Ipod, I can’t get enough of this song. I’ll let you know how the peppers turn out, send me tips if you have any.

Also I apologize for the lack of pictures lately. My camera is in a box, and really I haven’t made anything worth taking a picture of, yet.

 

These times they are a changin’

Well it’s been a few days since we talked last, and as usual, it feels like a lot has happened. I packed up and said good-bye to Vancouver, yet again. And yesterday I arrived back in Victoria at my parents house. The reason for my mom was the constant pain in my leg that had not been diagnosed despite many doctors appointments (I promise this will be a food related post, just be patient.) I had a doctor’s appointment today and I had a lot riding on this appointment because if the diagnosis and prognosis was bad, I was going to have to turn down a job offer I got Monday night. Turns out it’s a pinched nerve (even though the doctors in Vancouver told me it wasn’t). The doctor told me I need to shed a few pounds, get active and the pain will go away. And he told me to take the job and have fun! I must admit, I’m not a fan of dieting. I’ve lived under the assumption that if I use the old “everything in moderation” mantra, that I’d be OK, well turns out I maybe wasn’t as moderate as I thought. Even though I am thrilled about my diagnosis and the treatment necessary, I am a little bit angry that it involves me abandoning my moderate attitudes. My doctor recommended I buy G.I. Diet book by Rick Gallop. I tend to avoid the health and nutrition section of the book store but, honestly I’m willing to do what ever it takes to make the pain go away. So I’ve been flipping through the book and studying the easy to read charts of good, okay and awful foods, and I must admit I’m not thrilled. No cream, no butter, no honey, no sugar, skim milk, no eggs, no more homemade granola, and the one I’m most upset about, no beer or wine. In some ways I’m excited by the challenge of the diet. I feel like I can make some pretty amazing meals within the constraints of the green-light food options. I think what bothers me most about the green-light foods is that it involves what I interpret to be too many artificial foods like sugar substitutes, and I am a believer that there is such thing as good fats, but again, perhaps I’m wrong in that. Another challenge that could be facing my cooking and baking is location. I was offered a job deep in the Rockie Mountains, and well there is snow on the ground there, and there will be even more snow there when I arrive. So fresh produce is gonna be pretty limited. And all those lovely ethnic food stores aren’t going to be as plentiful as they were in Vancouver. But let me tell you, I’m not one to shy away from a challenge. I’m excited to share all my frustrations and excitement, as I launch into the next big chapter of my life from the mountains!

On the move

Even though I’ve been spending a lot of time on my butt lately, I’ve been trying to keep busy. I decided a few weeks ago that I needed to focus a little more moving my journalism career forward, which means broadening the boundaries of where I’m willing to live. When I was in journalism school, I was adamant that I could make it as a journalist without moving to the middle of no where. It’s been about six months since I finished school and now I’m realizing I was a bit naive. After becoming comfortable with the thought that living in a remote community wouldn’t be so bad, I logged on to a journalism job board and made a list. That looks a little something like this.

1. Yellowknife

2. Williams Lake

3. Terrace

4. Fernie

5. Cranbrook

6. Tofino

This list isn’t in order of preference, it’s in order of which application is due when. But when you spend the day in bed with a laptop fixed on your lap, you can get a lot of applications done in a short amount of time. The funny thing about this adventure I could be starting in the next few months, is that I’m not afraid of the cold, or the unknown, or being alone in a new place with no one I know, it’s that I’m wondering what there is going to be for fresh produce, butchers, bakers etc.

Am I alone in this? I realize if I end up in Yellowknife for example, the supply of fresh produce will be limited to put it mildly. And in some places the butcher, may be a Safeway, but that kind of scares me. I guess I have been spoiled in Vancouver and Victoria. Both these cities are pretty committed to local and sustainable food and I have taken full advantage of that. But now I’m realizing I need to prepare myself for shopping in Safeway, or even worse…Wal-mart. Does that make me a snob? Now I’m rambling. What would you miss if you ended up in a remote community.